No headset window when starting 4.12, stuck in 'extended mode'

Development Platform & Builds XR Development
1

Hello,

I have posted this question in the answer hub as well, but have not had any replies. I am stuck and hope it’s ok to post the question again here.

The core of my problem is: after having performed very well in 4.12, the Vive suddenly seems to be dropping to 45fps in situations in which it ran stable at 89-90 fps before. I believe this is related to ‘extended mode’ in steamVR.

Now the details:

  1. When I open a project with 4.12 or simply run 4.12 empty, the headset window for the vive does not automatically open as it did in 4.11 and 4.10. I need to start steam before starting Unreal Engine and that ends up with the headset in ‘extended mode’ which I can not change. In another place I read that when steam (or the headset window for that matter) is not started automatically when starting Unreal Engine it may prevent the vive running in direct mode.

  2. Unsure how it can be, but it all started when I unplugged the headset from the PC and then re-connected everything again. Now the vive only ever seems to run in ‘extended mode’ any more, indicated by a notification message on the steamVR window and the drop in frame rate. And when I click “Enable Direct Mode” on the steamVR message, steamVR restarts as announced, but gives me the same message that steamVR is in extended mode, nothing has changed. (I have done the "change ‘false’ to ‘true’ in the config file for the direct mode setting for steamVR’-thing, no effect).

  3. As is often the case, there may be other causes for my problem than those I have mentioned, please let me know if you have got any ideas in other directions.

Understanding that this may be a steam issue, do you maybe have an idea what I should do?

Looking forward to some help.

Best

2

I’ve seen this too, the perf decrease.

The performance thing i was wondering about, as i’ve seen a drop too. But there is a roughness bug, discussed here:

You might notice with settings that were fine in 4.11 you are getting A LOT more reflections going on, and i’m wondering if this is why there is a perf issue.
There is also an answer hub thread discussing performance decreases in 4.12 (sorry cant find the link)

As for your “Extended mode” bug, i’ve seen it get stuck before, reinstalling steamvr has resolved, i’m not running the beta of steamvr either anymore due to frequent issues, so perhaps don’t do that as well if you are :slight_smile:
You do have to have steamvr started before starting UE now though, which is new. It is also not a windowed mode any more O_o (no problems with this, just worth mentioning)

3

Hi gozu,

thank you for the reply.

Good to know that steamVR needs to be started manually now. Together with the performance issue i am having it appeared that this might be unintended and related. I have since un-installed (as thoroughly as possible) and re-installed steamVR and I do no longer get the warning that the headset is not in direct mode. Under the developer settings I still have the option to enable direct mode, though, hinting that I may still be in extended mode after all, but I am only just now checking everything again. With other peoples experiences with touching that switch I am reluctant to try enabling direct mode in case I get stuck with that warning message again.